Paxton Park District board to stick with existing wading pool

PAXTON — The Paxton Park District board discussed the state of the existing wading pool at Coady Park during Tuesday’s meeting.

Paxton Park District Recreation Director Neal McKenry said the board will likely try to finish the summer season with the existing wading pool.

“By the time a new one could be installed, we’d be looking at late July at the earliest, where we’d have less than a month left in the season,” McKenry said.When the main pool liner was replaced last year, the park district decided at the time not to replace the wading pool because, according to McKenry, “there were no leaks and it was pretty sound.”

“Since then, while we still aren’t experiencing any leaks, there are several portions that have bubbled up, which gives the wading pool a water bed feel to it in some spots,” McKenry said. “There is no significant impact to the pool itself if these repairs have to wait until the end of the season to be made.”

After the summer, work done at the wading pool is roughly estimated to cost the park district about $8,000.

There has been growing consideration, according to McKenry, with covering up the wading pool and replacing it with splash pad features.

“This would obviously be more expensive, but it will be something we will look into,” McKenry said. “That also factors in to our decision not to replace the wading pool liner immediately this season.”

Other business— The pool will be hosting a splash dance on Saturday, June 30, from 7-9:30 p.m. The dance will include a DJ, raffle prizes and free snowcones. Cost is $2 per person with a pool pass and $5 per person without a pool pass.

— The park board renewed its lease with CDS Office Technologies, a Springfield-based company that leases the park district’s copier, for the next 60 months at $117 per month.

— Safety concerns at the pool were discussed at the board meeting.While McKenry said the park district has yet to encounter any serious injuries at the pool, there have been several instances where guards had to enter the water to help a struggling swimmer.

“The board was made aware that there has been a couple of occasions where young kids have been going off the diving board, who probably shouldn’t have been,” McKenry said. “Staff has raised concerns that the diving board should be used only by kids who can swim, even if they are wearing a personal flotation device and a parent or staff member is in the water.”